Conspiracy alleged in suit over NV's Mustang Ranch

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (AP) — A county commissioner who owns Nevada's infamous Mustang Ranch brothel is accused in a $1.6 million civil lawsuit of orchestrating a conspiracy to cut an ex-business partner out of his share of the profits at the legal house of prostitution near Reno.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports (http://tinyurl.com/n7358j7 ) testimony began Wednesday in the trial expected to continue through Aug. 30 in Storey County District Court in Virginia City.

Lance Gilman, elected commissioner in November, also owned the Wild Horse brothel neighboring the Mustang before the county revoked that license in 2011.

Gilman later merged the two operations under a single license. His ex-partner, Tony Gonzalez of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says the move was designed to cut him out of his monthly 1 percent share of gross revenue at the Wild Horse.